


Glimpses From the Past

by uberwaldian_connection



Category: Dark (TV 2017)
Genre: F/M, Gen, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Time Travel, between 1986 and 2019
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-24
Updated: 2018-01-24
Packaged: 2019-03-09 01:45:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,841
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13471077
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/uberwaldian_connection/pseuds/uberwaldian_connection
Summary: "Claudia disappears one day mid-June, when Regina is in her last year of university. She leaves behind a letter, in which she cedes a lot of responsibility for the power plant to Aleksander, and says not to worry about her, and that she hopes she will come back soon.But she doesn’t."Or so Regina thinks.





	Glimpses From the Past

i.

 

Claudia disappears one day mid-June, when Regina is in her last year of university. She leaves behind a letter, in which she cedes a lot of responsibility for the power plant to Aleksander and says not to worry about her, and that she hopes she will come back soon.

 

But she doesn’t.

 

Regina panics, cries and reports her mother missing. It is only after she goes through her things and realizes that the carefully picked out camping equipment, trekking outfits, torches, and batteries are gone that she understands that her mother’s endeavor was planned. For months, perhaps years.

 

And that makes her boil in rage.

 

Anger, pain and confusion fill her in equal measures, and after she has thrown all of Claudia’s things across the whole floor, she slides onto the worn-out carpet in the corridor and cries, both from frustration with herself and trying to find an outlet for too many emotions bubbling inside of her. It takes all of her willpower to call Aleksander instead of reaching for the collection of razors hidden behind bandages on the top shelf of the medicine cabinet.

 

A week later he moves in with her. Two months later they clean out Claudia’s magazines and papers from the living room and the kitchen, and put them in the attic. Four months after that Regina graduates and comes back to Winden, both for Aleksander and because she hasn’t figured out what to do with herself yet. Gradually she finds a job in accounting, keeping books for different small businesses scattered around the area.

 

Two years after Claudia’s disappearance they finally clear out her room. Regina thinks it’s wearing on her, having to pass by that closed door every time she goes through the hallway. Aleksander never says it out loud, but she can see that this room carries way too much emotional baggage for both of them.

 

Some of the things they wrap in paper and put in boxes to be stored in the attic. The rest – old magazines, towels, expired cosmetics, leftover cigarettes which neither of them smokes – they throw away. It’s late in the evening when Regina takes out the last trash bag and most of their neighbors are safely harbored in their cozy homes. It’s no wonder – it’s been raining for the whole day, and it seems everyone has given up on the idea of some kind of fun outdoor activity. Yet as she closes the lid of the bin, her gaze shifts, and she catches a glimpse of a person standing on the opposite end of the street, partially covered in shadows.

 

She looks like an old woman, Regina realizes. And what is she doing there at this hour, in this weather?

 

A thunder booms and Regina turns in the other direction, startled. When she looks back, the strange figure is already gone. She feels strange for a second - like pricking on the back of her neck that she is unable to shook off – but it’s late and dark and rainy and she’s very tired, so she goes inside, eats dinner, and soon forgets about it. And the world moves on.

 

 

ii.

 

 

The day of her wedding is one of the best days of her life. It’s a small affair and the wedding takes place in their garden. The weather is beautiful – a warm, sunny September afternoon. There is only a handful of people invited – Aleksander’s friends from the power plant, her friends from the job and the university, Peter Doppler with Charlotte (she is quite possibly the only person her age in this whole city that Regina actually likes, maybe because they are both considered losers). The lack of any member of their families is noticeable, but no one says a thing.

 

Regina almost wishes her mother was there to witness this. She catches a glimpse of herself in the mirror – young, radiant, drunk on happiness – standing next to her new husband – relaxed, smiling, _laughing –_ and thinks to herself, _this is all you’ve ever wanted me to become, why aren’t you here to see this and gloat?_

 

But she refuses to wallow in hurt and self-pity today of all days, so she smiles and drags Aleksander to the floor for another dance.

 

Hours later they are left alone, cuddled on the bench outside, gazing into the starry sky. Aleksander moves to kiss her hairline and tighten his grip on her waist when he suddenly freezes mid-movement.

 

“There is someone watching us,” he says quietly and Regina sits up, confused. She looks at his face and follows his the line of his sight.

 

“I can’t see anyone,” she replies after a few seconds of intense staring into a bush twenty meters away from them.

 

“Maybe they’re gone now,” Aleksander says, but he seems unconvinced. There is a line of worry forming on his forehead, and Regina is overcome with a sudden urge to lean and smooth it away.

 

Any other day she might have shown more concern, but it’s her wedding day, or more accurately her wedding night, and the last thing she wants to think about is someone who probably got interested by the sounds of the party and decided to come closer and take a peek.

 

She stands up.

 

“We’ll check it out tomorrow,” she promises and reaches out her hand. “I don’t want to think about it now.”

 

Aleksander smiles and takes her hand in his, but the following weekend he severely trims all the plants. For the peace of his mind.

 

 

iii.

 

 

The encounter that Regina remembers best, and is most scared of, happens in winter. It’s mid-January, she is seven months pregnant, and this possibly the last week of vacations she and Aleksander can take before either she is too pregnant to travel anywhere or the baby is already here. They’ve been traveling for a few days now, staying in different places for a day or two, enjoying being tourist in their own country. For Regina, the added bonus is that this time she is staying at hotels that someone else is responsible for.

 

They make a stop at a gas station nearby, and while Aleksander fuels the car and goes to pay for the gas, Regina climbs out from her seat to stretch out her legs and get some arguably fresh air.

 

She reaches her arms above her head as far as she’s able to – which is not far, considering her stomach bringing her down and the icy pavement she’s standing on limiting her movements – and after that she just stands still for a second, taking in the views in front of her and filling her lungs with refreshing cold air.

 

It takes her a while to notice that someone is staring at her. The woman is sitting at the bus stop ten, maybe fifteen meters away from her. Her gaze is intense, piercing, and Regina’s hand automatically moves to rest on her stomach. She can swear she’s seen this face before, but it’s hard to tell from this distance and without glasses. Surely though…

 

Then the woman twitches and something in her face changes – it might be the lips and the nose moving – and Regina realizes with shocking clarity that she knows this mannerism, she’s seen it multiple times throughout the first twenty-something years of her life, but _it can’t be possible…_

 

Without thinking, she takes a hasty step ahead, forgetting that she is standing on an icy surface and not looking where her foot is going, and immediately falls down on her back. Her vision blurs for a second, and when she comes back fully to herself she sees Aleksander’s worried face above her.

 

“Are you okay?” he asks immediately and moves his hand to her cheek. It’s warm, Regina thinks amidst confusion, and she stops to think whether anything besides her pride hurts.

 

It doesn’t. She nods. Aleksander slowly helps her to her feet and sit in the car. Then he gets her some warm tea that Regina starts to drink, mostly to keep her hands busy.

 

“What happened?” He’s crouching in front of her by the open passenger’s door, genuine worry written across his face. It is because of that that Regina decides to tell the truth.

 

“I thought I saw my mother,” she replies, beginning to feel ashamed. “On the opposite side of the street.”

 

There is deep understanding in his eyes. Regina is grateful she doesn't see pity instead.

 

“But I guess it wasn’t her,” she adds and lets out a shaky breath. She takes a second to compose herself, then takes his hand and squeezes. “So how about we get out from here?”

 

 

iv.

 

 

Bartosz is the most beautiful, most precious child in the world, and it surprises both of them that they are able to think that, even when the kid is screaming his lungs out at three-thirty in the morning.

 

Thankfully, he grows out of it. He goes to kindergarten, and primary school, and gymnasium, and generally grows as a healthy human being with two loving parents and zero grandparents, which is a topic of one painful discussion when he’s about seven and has just discovered the concept of extended family.

 

There are no more strange encounters and no elderly women staring at Regina  at  most inopportune moments. She can’t decide whether that makes her relieved or a bit sad, but even to her having such conflicting feelings seems so stupid she never  that tells anyone she enjoyed that sparkle of hope that her mother might have come back to watch her. 

 

Before she realizes, Bartosz is getting confirmed, and she’s running late to one of the rehearsals at the church. When she arrives, the only places left are beside Hannah or Charlotte, and she immediately chooses the latter.

 

“Did I miss anything?” She asks in a stage whisper after she finds Bartosz between a group of kids and waves at him.

 

“Not much,” Charlotte replies, bouncing Elisabeth on her knee. “The pastor is just telling them where to stand.”

 

Regina’s gaze moves to the tall, black-clad figure in front of the kids, and she frowns.

 

“I don’t know that man.”

 

“He’s new,” Charlotte explains and stops Elisabeth from eating her shoe. “He came to take over, since pastor Metzer is sick.”

 

“He looks young,” Regina remarks, watching the new pastor closely. There is something strange about him, something she can’t quite place.

 

Charlotte shrugs.

 

“He probably is, but he knows enough about confirmations to arrange one.”

 

They sit in relative silence for a while. Elisabeth grows bored quickly and crawls to the empty space on the bench between them, and then promptly falls asleep with her head in Charlotte’s lap and her legs in Regina’s.

 

“You know, I listened to one of his sermons last Sunday,” Charlotte remarks quietly. Regina suddenly remembers that Peter is religious. “It was very… devout. Too much even for Peter’s taste, I think.”

 

“Oh really? What was it about?” Regina asks, distracted by Elisabeth’s surprisingly sharp knees digging into her thigh.

 

“It was about Noah. Noah and his Arc.”

**Author's Note:**

> I just... I love the idea of Claudia being the masterming behind the whole time-travelling thing. She has a clear goal, I think, I just have no idea what it is. I also have a headcanon, sewn from my many fragmentaric rewatches of the show, that she actually left Winden at some point before Bartosz was born, and I assume she never came back. But now she has time travel. Or so I think. Enjoy the slight creepiness and the Tiedemanns, who are still the relatively sanest family on the show.


End file.
